Never Alone
by aBeautifulLiar
Summary: He felt an instant connection to the girl as he walked into the hospital room, staring at the machines and the wires that made the five year old girl seem even smaller than she was. "I'm going to be your hero." He whispered, smiling, "Just like my dad."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee – if I did, Lea and Cory would never leave, Brittana would have more kisses than everyone other than Finchel and there would probably be a lot more sex scenes...**

**Also, the title and lyrics used at the beginning are from Never Alone – Lady A. **

**This is an AU fiction. **

**Never Alone**

**Chapter One**

"_May the angels protect you, trouble neglect you, heaven accept you when it's time to go home. May you always have plenty, the glass never empty, know in your belly, you're never alone."_

Rachel Barbara Berry was her father's pride and joy, she was their precious gift, she meant the entire world to both of them, so much so that they based their whole life around the girl. They were protective, they were loving, they were supportive of every decision she ever made and they were her _biggest _fans. They were proud of their little girl, she never failed to astound them with her strength, and her passion. They loved listening to her sing, if asked their favourite sound, they would reply with 'our daughter's voice' without a moment's hesitation.

When they had made the decision to have a child, it had been the biggest but the best decision they had ever made. And when they held that bundle of joy in their arms for that very first time, neither had ever felt so much love for another person. She was perfect, and they never regretted that huge decision as they watched her grow up. She was always so full of energy, and when she learned she could speak, it was non-stop from then on. They encouraged her in the arts, they loved to see her dance, hear her sing, they entered her into beauty pageants for the experience – so their daughter could look back on her childhood and truly say she had a varied but fun experience.

It was a concern of her dance teacher when she was just four years old that made them take that trip to the doctor's. Both Leroy and Hiram would always remember that judging looks on the teacher's face, as though she had already decided that the bruises on Rachel's body was because of them, even when she had approached them with her concerns for the tiny girl, the two men had no idea what she was talking about until later that night. Rachel informed them that she hadn't fallen over, she didn't really know where they had come from, as she looked up at them with her big, brown eyes which quickly watered at the looks on their own faces. Their hearts broke then, because she thought _she _had done something wrong.

They held onto her tiny hands as they walked into the doctor's office, explaining the bruises to him. She was just four years old, and the man just said she was clumsy, she had probably fallen over a few times in dance, and because there were no other symptoms, there couldn't _possibly _be something wrong with her. They both went home that night, feeling relief that their perfect angel was going to be okay. They never went back to that dance class again though.

Just a few weeks later, two weeks before her fifth birthday, was the first time they had to call an ambulance for their little girl. Hiram cried as they waited, Leroy holding onto the unconscious girl, tears falling down his own face. Neither of them said a word as they were made to wait in the family room of the hospital that evening, both of them just gripping tightly onto each other's hand, silent tears running down their faces. "Your daughter has an abnormally low white blood cell count, we're going to run some more tests but you need to prepare yourself." The Doctor was sympathetic, as though he already knew what was wrong with their four year old daughter.

The two men sat by her bedside as she went through a physical examination, both of them answering questions to get a basis of her medical history – neither had a way of contacting Shelby, both of them guiltily shaking their heads when asked if they could, neither wanting to mention the contract in shame.

Their eyes watered more when they saw their tiny girl on the bed for the first time, wrapped in a blanket, wires running from her small body – she had been two months premature, she was already so small for her four years, the white hospital bed and the machines just made her seem so much smaller.

Leroy's voice travelled around the small room, playing with the small girls hair as she slept, "Twinkle, twinkle little star.." He sung gently, tears running down his face quickly as he watched her sleep. Hiram sobbed on the other side of the bed, both of them having just been told the worst news they could ever imagine - "Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia." - both men had broken down at the news, not being able to imagine a world without their little angel.

"She's only four years old, this shouldn't be happening.." Hiram finally whispered the next day, looking at the man he loved so much. Leroy could only nod as he looked around the empty room – Rachel had been taken to get some more tests done, so they could reach a verdict on what treatments she needed to undergo.

"She's strong.. she can get through this." He murmured, going through the bag he had brought from home a few hours ago, pulling out a fleece blanket covered in gold stars – it was Rachel's favourite, she was going to grow up to be a star some day, the Berry's loved metaphors. "We... we need to be strong for her." He managed to choke out, tears threatening to fall down his face once more, but instead he forced them back to look at the other man, "Okay?"

Hiram nodded, biting down on his lip, standing up to help him unpack the bag, smiling at all the memories as he put them around the room – they wanted her to feel somewhat comfortable, the doctor said she could be there for a while. "We need to do something special for her fifth birthday, she's going to be here when she celebrates it.. but we have to make it special for her." He broke the silence, and Leroy nodded, a huge grin on his face.

"Leave it to me." They both grinned at each other, before sitting down to await her return, gripping onto each other's hands as they waited anxiously, neither of them wanting to speak the words they were both thinking, _this birthday could be her last. _

They celebrated her five years in the world in the hospital, with the nurses and the doctors who had been so amazing to the girl since she had arrived in the hospital two weeks ago. "You need to make the most of a bad situation." They had been told by a nurse – Rachel's favourite nurse; Carole. They had both nodded as they set up the star decorations, reminding themselves that metaphors were important – their daughter would grow up to be a star.

Rachel was so full of life, and at times, the dads would find themselves forgetting she was sick – the wires and machines were just there now, they barely noticed them. She giggled, opening all her presents eagerly, thanking everyone with so much enthusiasm. The nurses complimented them on having such a strong girl, and they had never felt such pride before. Sure, they had been so proud when she won all those awards, when she took her first steps, her first words, the first time she said 'I love you' to them but this was a stronger sense of pride – their daughter was a fighter, they were proud that she wouldn't go without a fight.

"I love you, dad, daddy." She whispered, fighting the exhaustion later that day, holding onto their hands before she finally gave into the sleep that she had been fighting all day. "We love you too, bumblebee." Leroy whispered, kissing her forehead as he watched her sleep. She would be starting chemotherapy and radiotherapy the day after, and they both knew the reality of the situation would truly hit all three of them, the two men knowing the effects the chemotherapy would have on her small body.

Hiram absent mindedly ran his fingers through her long hair, tears falling down his face as he thought about his perfect little girl being in pain. He wouldn't wish this on his worst enemy, it was heartbreaking to watch his only daughter go through it, and it was becoming exhausting to try and convince himself that she was strong, that she could get through it because the fact that she was just a five year old girl, a girl already too small for her age, was always burning in the back of his mind.

They both held each other as she went for her first chemotherapy session, both of them crying into each other's shoulders as they thought about all the things she would be losing as she fought the cancer that had forced itself into their lives. She couldn't go to school, she wouldn't be able to go outside and play with anyone, no more dancing, no more of those activities she loved so much. They sobbed at the thought of her losing out on all those friends she could have made, the precious first days of school that they wouldn't be able to wave her off to until she was at least seven – maybe more. They cried harder than they ever had before for their sick child, praying to every God they had ever heard of to let her be okay, to make sure she got through it. They prayed, and they prayed, holding onto each other for extra support, clinging onto the love they had for each other and for the one thing they shared – Rachel.

She was weak, and always tired and when she was awake, that smile was gone, replaced by tears of pain and loss. It broke her dads heart to see her cry, but they understood. "I'm so lonely." She whispered to them, just a month into her chemotherapy, tears falling down her face. "Everyone will have made friends in school now and I have no one." Her fingers played with the IV drip carefully, silent tears making their way down her pale face.

Leroy could only give her a small, sad smile as he kissed her forehead, "You have us." She nodded, not saying another word before closing her eyes, letting tiredness taking over her body again. He sighed as he watched her sleep, looking up at the nurse who had been checking her vitals, tears in his eyes as he shook his head, "What do I do?" He whispered, knowing she probably didn't have the answer.

Nurse Carole Hudson gave him a soft, kind smile and shook her head, "I have a son her age, I'll bring him in one day if that's okay with you?" Leroy gave her the first genuine smile he managed for the first time since her fifth birthday, nodding his head eagerly.

"Please.. I hate the fact she's so lonely. She should be in school now, she should be doing everything other kids her age are doing." He sighed, squeezing Carole's hand in appreciation when she placed her own hand on his shoulder, her own eyes travelling over to the tiny girl in the bed. "I'll bring him soon."

It was just the day after when a wide eyed, brunette boy made his way into the large hospital room, staring at the girl in the bed. He made his way slowly to the bedside, his mother following him not so far behind, his eyes not moving from the small figure that lay in the too large hospital bed. "It's rude to stare, you know."

He jumped at the voice, stopping in his tracks, looking back at the girl who had now opened her eyes fully to look right back at him. "I'm sick, but don't worry, it's not contagious." She rolled her eyes, turning to lay on her back to stare up at the ceiling.

Finn turned to look at his mom, "I thought you said she was sick? She doesn't seem sick, she just seems rude." He wrinkled his little nose in confusion as his mom just shook her head and pushed him to the bed,

"I already explained to you, Finny." She whispered, pulling him a seat up as Rachel watched them both curiously, "Rachel, this is my son Finn Hudson... and Finn, this is Rachel Berry. There are plenty of board games in the cupboard over there, or you can both just talk. I'll be starting my shift in a moment so make sure you don't cause too much trouble." She ruffled the boys hair, giving him a big kiss – much to his horror – as Rachel grinned at him, waving at her favourite nurse before turning to look back at him when the door was closed.

"So.." She whispered, she had never really had a friend, the other kids usually hated her because they were all as competitive as each other, and you don't make friends with the competition.

"You're sick." Finn stated, looking at the machines, clearly uncomfortable at the constant beeping that ran around the room, his eyes wandering over to all the wires, his eyes growing wider at the bag of blood that was being pumped into her body. His face visibly paled, and Rachel shifted a little, a tear of embarrassment running down her face when she followed his eyes. Finn quickly jumped up, moving closer to her beside, "Don't cry. My momma always says you shouldn't make a girl cry, Rach.. don't cry."

She bit down on her lip, "I know I'm sick, it's all anyone ever talks about.. c-can we please talk about something else?" He quickly nodded, smiling when she wiped away the tear.

"Do you have like.. homework and stuff to do here? I mean, I go to school and stuff, and that can be so annoying sometimes.. like this teacher, told me off because I didn't know how to spell 'animals' and it was horrible, I went all red and then everyone laughed at me.." Rachel giggled and shook her head when he shot her a horrified look,

"No.. no.. I'm not laughing at you.. it's just.. you're rambling." She giggled again and he laughed with her, crinkling up his nose, not truly understanding why his heart felt that way – he was only five years old, at sixteen he would tell you that it was the first time he fell in love with the other girl, at five years old, he thought it was just something he had at lunch.

"I could help you with your spellings, if you want!" She grinned at him, "I get homework and work to do here, but I have nothing else to do so that all gets done pretty quick. Usually when I'm in chemotherapy, it's just something to keep my mind off things."

Finn bit down on his lip, "C-can I ask what chemotherapy is?" He almost whispered, his eyes full of curiosity as Rachel cleared her throat,

"Uh.. it's like... these drugs that are meant to make the cancer go away." Tears brimmed her eyes as she played with a thread on her blanket, "It's supposed to make me better, but it makes me feel sick.. but daddy always says that you have to get sicker, to get better.." Finn nodded and gave her a lop-sided grin, standing up. "A-are you going?" He shook his head and walked to the cupboard, getting out a game, not missing her sigh of relief as she watched him.

"These are neat games!" He said loudly, grinning when she laughed, watching him finally pick out one. She played happily with him, talking about school, friends, homework, hobbies, their families – everything their five year old minds could possibly think of. She almost cried when his mom walked in, thinking he was about to be taken away from her but instead a tray of food was placed in front of both of them, and she giggled when Finn licked his lips before digging into his food.

"Try and eat today, sweetie.." Carole whispered to her, "I know you feel sick, but you will feel better once you eat." She smiled at her son before slowly walking out of the room, giving Leroy and Hiram a reassuring smile, watching them both relax into their seats as they went through some work as their daughter finally made the friend she had been longing for.

Finn stared at the girl, frowning, "Aren't you going to eat your food? It's really good, I promise." Rachel shook her head, sniffing slightly, her fork hovering over the plate,

"Feel sick." She mumbled, a tear escaping, making it's way down her ghost-like skin. Finn stood up, setting his own food aside before he climbed up onto the bed, careful not to sit on any of her wires before he took the fork from her, "When I'm feeling sick, my momma feeds me. I know you might not feel like eating, but you heard my momma, and anything she says is usually right."

He grinned innocently, lifting the fork to her mouth, his smile getting even wider when she ate the food he offered – unaware that it was the first piece of food that she had eaten in over a week. "Thank you." She whispered when the plate was empty, and he held the cup to her lips. He shrugged and jumped back down from the bed, picking up his backpack.

He pulled out an old bear, smiling at it before placing it in Rachel's arms, "My dad gave that to me when I was a baby, before he died.. I hug him whenever I'm sad. So, when I'm not here, I want you to hug the bear, and pretend it's me!" Her eyes watered at the gift, holding it close to her.

"I'll take extra special care of him, Finn.. you can have him back when I'm better." She sighed and settled down into her cushions, holding the bear close to her. "I-I'm sorry.." She whispered, "I'm always so tired.." He shook his head and settled down in his chair,

"Me too. Momma said that I'm a growing boy, so I need to take my naps." She opened her eyes again, giving him a small smile before they both closed their eyes, Rachel falling into a quick sleep, her grip never ceasing on the small bear – it was the first gift Finn ever gave her, and it was the first present she had ever received from someone who wasn't family.

Carole walked into the room just a few minutes later, looking at her son, "Did Rachel eat?" She whispered to him, kneeling down in front of him, he nodded quickly and smiled,

"I really like her, momma.. we can come again, right? Can I come here everyday?" Carole nodded and wrapped her arms tight around him,

"You can come here whenever you want, my special boy." His eyes sparkled and he looked at his mom, wiping a tear that fell down her face, "You know when I tell you how your daddy was a hero?" He nodded, taking a deep breath, that feeling of loss taking over his body whenever he thought about the man he never got the chance to know. "You're a hero, too.. you're going to be Rachel's hero.. you'll understand what I mean when you're older, but you're a hero, Finn."

He could only smile wide as he looked at Carole, hugging her tight, his eyes looking over at the girl on the bed that he felt a strange connection with. "I like being a hero." He said simply, smiling proudly at his mom as she nodded and ruffled his hair.

"I'm just going to tell her dads and her doctor that she finally ate something, I'm so proud of you." Finn nodded and stood up, puffing up his chest as he stood by Rachel's bedside, watching her sleep. "I'm going to be the bestest hero." He whispered in her ear, tucking her in like his mom always did to him before turning to sit back in his seat, falling asleep quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee – if I did, Lea and Cory would never leave, Brittana would have more kisses than everyone other than Finchel and there would probably be a lot more sex scenes...**

**Also, the title and lyrics used at the beginning are from Never Alone – Lady A. **

**This is an AU fiction. **

**Never Alone**

**Chapter Two**

"_May your tears coming from laughing, you find friends worth having, with every year passing, they mean more than gold. May you win but stay humble, smile more than grumble and know when you stumble, you're never alone." _

Finn sniffed as he held his best friend's hand, tears running down his face as he stared at the girl in the hospital bed. "Wake up." He whispered, the tears falling heavier, a sob escaping the young boy's throat, "Wake up." He repeated, squeezing her hand.

He had no idea that things could go so wrong, the world suddenly felt to cruel, so unkind. He didn't take his eyes away from Rachel, holding her hand tighter, wanting to tell her that the past two months had been the best two months of his life so far. He wanted to tell her that she was truly the only friend he had ever made – he had trouble in school, people made fun of him for being stupid, but he didn't care anymore because he spent the whole of school, looking forward to going to the hospital. "I-I can't loose you, too." He whispered into the quiet room.

He frowned, his eyes finally moving away from her, and he let go of her hand to pick up the scrapbook they had both been making for the past month. He sat down, opening it up slowly, smiling at the memories. He had stopped seeing her as the sick girl a long time ago, and instead she was just Rachel Berry – the girl who was going to be a star, his best friend.

He sighed, sinking down onto the floor, grabbing the box that contained everything they planned on putting into the scrapbook – photographs, letters, notes that he had given her when she had fallen asleep, even some of his graded work he had received since she had been helping him. He held the paper roses he had made for her one day in school, sticking them carefully to the paper. He concentrated hard on the paper, trying to do pretty writing like she could do, wanting the scrapbook to be perfect for _when _she woke up.

Carole watched her son from the doorway, a small smile on her face as she watched him hard at work. She closed her eyes briefly, momentarily regretting ever bringing him to see the girl, she shook her head at her own thoughts – she had never seen him so happy as he had been in the past two months, and Rachel had been reacting so well to her treatment lately.

A frown appeared on her face, she had never wanted to get attached to the five year old girl, but the girl had won her over with her charm, and her enthusiasm about how one day, she was going to write about this in her autobiography. She slowly walked into the room, smiling at Finn gently before checking Rachel's vitals, sighing. The little girl had taken a turn for the worse after her chemotherapy three days ago, and had slipped into a coma when her fever peaked too high. She let a lone tear slip down her face, quickly wiping it away before her son could see.

"She'll be okay, right momma?" She turned around, giving him her best smile before kneeling down to look at the scrapbook he was trying to complete,

"I hope so, sweetie." She kissed the side of his head, "But if she's not, I just want you to know that you've been her best friend, you've been her hero and she never would have been as happy as she has been without you by her side, okay?" She bit her lip at the devastation in his eyes as he heard her words, shaking his head stubbornly.

"She's going to be okay, she's just resting. You know how Rachel likes being all dramatic and stuff, momma.. she'll wake up soon, and she'll be okay.." He looked away quickly, looking down at the book, "Can we go buy some gold stars soon? I ran out.." He whispered heartbreakingly, his voice low and terrified, "I ran out of gold stars.." He sniffed, slamming the book shut before standing up to go stand by her bedside again, not saying another word to Carole as she walked out of the room.

~ .. ~

"Twinkle, twinkle little star.." Rachel opened her eyes slowly, quickly closing them again at the bright lights. "How I wonder what you are.." She opened her eyes again, groaning this time to let the voice she was awake, "Rachel?"

"Finn?" She whispered, wincing when her throat hurt with the one simple word, trying once again to open her eyes to see the grinning face of her best friend. He jumped up quickly, running out of the room, calling for his mom and the other nurses, before he came running back in with his mom, a doctor and Rachel's dads.

"Oh god, little star." Hiram cried watching them check her over before running up to her, wrapping his arms tight around her, as Leroy joined in the group hug, tears running down his own face. They had both been preparing themselves for the worse, after three weeks with no sign of life from the girl. "Thank you, thank you so much." Leroy whispered, rubbing the little girl's now bald head, bringing her even closer to him.

Finn grinned at the three, looking up at his mom, tugging on her hand. "I sang to her, momma! And then she woked up!" Carole smiled down at her son, kissing his head as tears brimmed her eyes, biting down on her lip.

"Woke." Rachel spoke up from her bed, smiling at Finn, "I sang to her and then she woke up... that's what you meant to say." Her dads pulled away from the girl, rolling their eyes at her as they both laughed,

"There's our little star." Hiram laughed, holding the cup of water to her mouth, smiling when she drunk it. "We're going to get some coffee and food so you and Finn can catch up, okay?" Both kids nodded, watching the parents leave before Finn jumped up on the bed, making sure he avoided all the wires.

Rachel's big eyes met with his, her eyelashes fluttering, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks before she looked at him, "You can hug me if you want."

"I want." He smiled, wrapping his small arms around her tiny body, both of them quickly pulling away after a moment, with Rachel watching Finn as he grabbed the scrapbook from her bedside, opening it up. "I finished it for us, I mean obviously we're going to have more memories, so there are pages for that but this is so far." He flicked through it with her, smiling whenever she did, joining in with her laughter, only just realizing how much he had missed spending time with her lately.

"Thank you, Finn." She grinned widely at him, hugging the scrapbook close to her chest, "This is the best, we're going to keep it forever, right? And then we'll look back on this one when we're old and grey, and we'll remember." Finn nodded eagerly, kissing her cheek, his eyes widening when he realized what he did, jumping off the bed.

Rachel looked at the last photograph, smiling slightly as a tear fell down her face, "All my hair is gone, now?" Finn nodded, biting down on his lip,

"My momma said it will grow back when you're all better." Rachel just nodded slightly, sniffing as more tears fell down her face, slowly touching her head, flinching when she felt the bare skin, quickly dropping her hand. Finn watched her carefully, a small frown on his face before he grabbed a pile of work on the side. "Here, you missed out on loads of work when you're sleeping. You can do it all when I'm in school, so it's fair, you see?" He smiled at her, "Then we'll both be working hard all day, we can do some homework and then we can play!" Rachel nodded, smiling back at him but Finn could see the sadness in her eyes still, his young mind working things out in his head as he went through the work with his best friend.

~ .. ~

Rachel smiled up at her friend when he walked into her room the next day, "You're late, I thought you weren't going to come." Finn shook his head and walked up to her bedside,

"I'll always come, you're my best friend!" He smiled innocently at her, causing her to smile easily,

"Why are you wearing a hat? You hate wearing hats.." The five year old just shrugged, before moving to take off the hat, revealing his own bald head, looking up to see Rachel's reaction, biting his lip when he saw tears forming in her eyes. "Y-you did that? F-for me?" She whispered, reaching up to touch his head, a tear falling.

He nodded, "I would do anything for you!" He said it like it was the most simple thing in the word, reaching out to wipe away her tear, "My hair will grow back and so will yours." She nodded, the biggest smile on her face as she sat up slowly, ignoring the pain in her body as it protested the movement.

"Can you hug me?" She whispered shyly, looking at him. Finn nodded without a seconds hesitation, jumping up on the bed as he always did, wrapping his arms around her, "Lay with me.." She muttered, biting down on her lip like she always did when she was nervous. He looked at her and nodded, moving to the side without wires, closing his own eyes when she rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her tiny arms around him. "Just a little nap, I don't like feeling lonely..." She frowned a little and Finn just nodded, both of them falling asleep rapidly.

Hiram and Leroy walked in with Carole to take Finn down to the cafeteria to pick some food for he and Rachel, as the girl decided she would eat whatever Finn did. The three adults smiled at the scene, Hiram walking over to wrap the blanket over both of them, giving a small sigh. "They're going to fall in love, you know." He turned to the two adults behind him as they both nodded.

Leroy grimaced, "We better make the most of us thinking this is cute.. because in ten years, this will be banned." Carole grinned and looked over at her son and the little girl she was coming to think of as a daughter, smiling at the two men before she quickly checked over her vitals, before walking out with them both.

~ .. ~

"I want you to write a story about your best friend – it could be anyone, remember; it could be someone in this class, someone at home, your parents. Anyone." Finn smiled wide at the teacher, eagerly picking up his pen, looking at the blank piece of paper in front of him, knowing exactly who he would write about.

"_My best friend is going to be a star one day, her name is Rachel Barbara Berry and she is five years old, just like me. My momma took me to see her one day 'cause we were both very lonely, but now we're not lonely anymore 'cause we have each other! I go to see her everyday after school, 'cause momma changed her shifts to that time so I can be with Rachel. Sometimes, I can't go 'cause of stuffs like meetings, or momma won't be in work that day or something, but Rachel understand 'cause she's cool like that. _

_There's just one thing about my best friend that makes her more special than anyone else – she's sick. Not a little sick, but very sick.. she has cancer. I see how people look at her, and she tells me that she hates it when people look at her like she's going to die, but I don't see her like that.. she's my best friend, and I know she's not going to die. We're going to grow old together, that's what we always say. _

_When I do go to the hospital to see her, we usually do some homework, and she helps me with my work which I'm betting you'll be happy about Mrs James, 'cause she's the reason I can write this so good! You would love her, she's clever and she knows lots about different things, and she teaches me so good. I could listen to her forever. Sometimes she can be too clever, but I don't mind because I know that some people are just clever and some ain't. I'm ain't too clever, but Rachel said that it doesn't matter because I have other smarts, and I can get clever with her help. But yeah.. where was I? Um, oh yeah.. we do homework, and she teaches me stuff, lots of stuff.. and we take photographs 'cause she wants to remember every moment we share together. My momma once told me that Rachel likes taking photographs 'cause she's scared if she dies, then no one will remember her. But she's wrong. I'll remember her. But she's not going to die, I keep telling them that, and everyone just nods. Momma believes me though, I know she does. _

_Sometimes though, we have to just sleep and I don't mind that 'cause school can be boring sometimes, so I need all the sleep I can get. Rachel likes it when I sleep in the bed with her because she says it makes all the bad dreams goes away, and she doesn't feel so lonely anymore. I'm going to be her hero, like my daddy was a hero, so I don't mind sleeping next to her 'cause it makes me feel special. _

_One day, Mrs James you're going to meet my best friend Rachel, you will like her lots 'cause she won't mess around in class like some of the other kids, and she won't be asking any stupid questions like I do.. you will meet her soon, I promise. _

_I'm not as stupid as people think I am, I know cancer is bad and I know that people sometimes go away; my daddy went away when I was a baby but Rachel is special, and she's going to be a big star one day. She's going to be okay, everyone will see. _

_So yes, this is my best friend, Rachel Barbara Berry. She's going to be my wife one day, __that's what momma said. I guess that means I have to kiss her like I see momma doing to my daddy in photograph's, and I will have to live with her and stuff.. but I don't care, because she's my best friend, and best friends are special. Rachel is special." _

Mrs James read the story that same night, her eyes tearing up as she read the paper, passing it to her husband, neither of them believing a five year old could show such innocence but such wisdom at the same time. She could only smile as she put a gold star sticker on the top, and a huge A+, her heart warming at the honesty of the boy's words as he spoke about his best friend.

Finn ran through the doors of the hospital room when he got the story back, a huge grin on his face when he handed it to Rachel, his eyes full of pride when she congratulated him on the mark before she read it slowly, a small smile on her face as she cried softly, "I love it." She finally whispered, wiping her eyes.

"I'm going to put it in the scrapbook, okay?" She nodded at him, watching him open up the scrapbook to the next empty page, grabbing the glue as he stuck it in. "I love you, Finny." She smiled at him, leaning back on the bed.

"I love you too, Rachy." He grinned at her, "Nap time?" She nodded, giggling slightly, her eyes closing in exhaustion as he climbed up on the bed, both of them cuddling into each other before falling asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, as much as I like to believe I do. I don't own Lady A's 'Never Alone' either. **

**A/N: Wow, thank you so much for the reviews; please, please keep them up. Try and beat nineteen reviews! **

**The next chapter can go one of two ways, depending on your responses (I already know what you're all going to tell me to do, but still) and I would really want to hear them. Let's aim for twenty reviews! **

**Never Alone**

**Chapter Three**

"_You're never alone. I'll be in every bit of your heart when you face the unknown, wherever you fly, this isn't goodbye. My love will follow you, stay with you.. baby, you're never alone." _

Rachel carefully wrapped the present she had on her lap, a small smile on her face as concentrated on making sure the wrapping was completely perfect. It was Finn's sixth birthday the day after, and she couldn't wait until he saw his present – she had sat with her dads for ages looking through different catalogues to make sure they got the present that felt right. Finally, she had settled on a pair of tickets for the next hockey game for the team he loved so much – she had watched a few games on the TV with him, and she loved to see the excitement on her best friends face as he eagerly watched the game, explaining to her everything that was going on. She had also bought him a football jersey that she knew he wanted.

Her dads watched from the other side of the room, smiles on their faces as she put her full attention into focusing on making sure the jersey and the tickets were properly wrapped. "Did you get the cupcakes?" She looked up at them both when she was done, and she had carefully signed her name with a gold star on the end. They both grinned and nodded quickly,

"How could we forget? You told us about a thousand times to make sure we got them." Hiram laughed as he moved the present from her lap, putting it on her bedside table, "He's going to love this. I promise you." Rachel gave her dads an award-winning smile and nodded, laying back on her bed. She hadn't been feeling too good lately, but she pushed it to the back of her mind because tomorrow was supposed to be Finn's big day.

She had her eyes closed, so didn't notice the worry on her father's faces, both of them exchanging a knowing look – the chemotherapy and radiotherapy hadn't been working as well as everyone had hoped and they knew that extra measures would have to be taken soon, the moment she reached the six month mark. The doctor's told them to have patience, but when it came to their five year old child's life, they wouldn't be taking any risks. Plus, they knew how long the transplant could take, they didn't want to risk anything happening to her in the meantime.

Rachel fell into a quick sleep, her dads tucking her in as they settled by her bedside, trying to push back the worry they felt, trying to fall asleep themselves. Hiram took Leroy's hand in his own, holding Rachel's limp hand in his other hand, quietly praying before he closed his eyes sleep. He prayed for health, for happiness, for love. And he thought of Finn who would be celebrating his sixth birthday tomorrow, and he prayed that he would be able to celebrate their daughter's sixth birthday soon.

~ .. ~

Finn ran into Rachel's bedroom after school, the next day, he had a huge grin on his face as he jumped up onto her bed, bringing her into a tight hug. "I got so much! It's the best birthday ever!" He looked at his best friend, "I got a brand new bike and when you're all better, we're gonna go riding together. I'll teach you how to and everything. And I also got some new books, and video games and lots of new board games for me and you."

He paused for a second, looking at Rachel properly, "My mom said I can't stay too long because you're not feeling too good today." Rachel gave a small smile and a slight nod,

"I'm sorry.. it's your birthday, I really didn't want to be so sick today." She sniffed, wiping a tear that fell down her face as Finn shook his head, "I got you a present." She pointed to the presents on her bedside table, not wanting to admit that she was too weak to reach for them herself, watching him as he grabbed them and unwrapped them quickly.

He gasped, looking from Rachel and then back down at the two presents, "Wow.. these are amazing.. I can't wait to show my mom. And hey, when you're better, we can go to a game together, right?" She nodded, kissing his cheek before she moved to lay back down, her eyes closing. "I'm going to leave you to sleep, I hope you feel better tomorrow Rachel, I'll tell you all about my day properly, then." He frowned when she didn't respond, "Rachel? Are you sleeping?"

He sighed, jumping off the bed, grabbing his presents, going to walk out of the room to show his mom. The next moment was something Finn would later describe as one of the worst moments in his life, he was only six years old so he didn't understand what the drone of the machine that Rachel had been connected to since the day he met her but he knew it was bad. It meant something terrible. He had no clue what was going on, as he turned around and saw the flat line, the beep would be something to haunt him for weeks. Before he could even fully register what was going on, he watched doctors and nurses rushing to the girls bedside, panicked tones could be heard as he watched. He heard someone scream her name, and it took his mom wrapping her arms around him and pulling him out of the room for him to realize it was him that had screamed.

"Mommy. Mommy make her be okay." He sobbed into her chest, holding onto her tight as she carried him away from the room, until the beep could no longer be heard. She felt tears running down her own face as she rubbed his back, trying her best to console the young boy. She would never admit it out loud but it was in that moment that she regretted ever bringing him into Rachel's life; she knew how selfish it was to even think about it, Finn and Rachel were such good friends and she was so proud of how well he handled Rachel, and how happy they seemed to make each other but it was his birthday, and it would be forever tainted by this memory.

She looked over at the two men she had made such good friends with over the past ten months that Rachel had been in hospital for, she watched them as they held onto each other and cried and the regretting went away as fast as it had come – as hard as she and Finn had it, they could lose their daughter, and she would still have Finn no matter what. "Please Christopher, please make sure she doesn't get taken away from him. The world can't be that cruel. Please.." She sniffed, holding onto her young boy as tight as she could as though he could disappear at any second.

Hiram and Leroy held each other as both of them sobbed, knowing that in that room, they were trying to get the five year old's heart to start beating again. "Please, please." Hiram begged as he clung to Leroy's shirt, sobbing harder than he had the day she was diagnosed. They were both aware that in that moment, they could lose the little girl they had spent a short five years with.

They watched the doctor come out after ten minutes, "We managed to get her heart beating again, we're going to be moving her to ICU. We believe she's developed an infection, so we're going to treat that and then focus on other treatment options for her leukaemia." He gave them both a sympathetic smile, patting them both on the back before moving back into the room, preparing the young girl for the move.

"I just need some fresh air.. I-I think I just need time alone..." Hiram whispered, wiping his eyes, softly kissing the other man before walking away down the corridor, to stand outside the hospital for a while. He sobbed the moment the cold air hit him, leaning against the nearest wall, crying for all that he could have lost, and all he could still lose.

Leroy was left to follow his daughter as she was moved to ICU – a move he had hoped they would never have to see. He hated it already – _intensive care_ – the cancer ward had been enough to make him cry, but intensive was as bad as it got. He longed to hold the tiny girl in his arms, wishing he could kiss away the pain like other fathers would do when their child got a grazed knee – but this wasn't a graze, it was _cancer_ and he was helpless. There was **nothing** they could do.

He stood back as she was hooked to new machines, _bigger _machines that made her already tiny body, seem even smaller. He shook his head, more tears falling down his face until he could finally move to her bedside, "You're going to get through this, I promise." He squeezed her hand, avoiding any wires as he stared at her. "And when you're sixteen, you're going to fall in love with Finn, and we promise we'll approve. Well, I can't speak for your dad, but I will." He laughed a little, "Truth is, I'll probably chase him out of the house.. but only because I've always wanted to do that." He kissed her forehead, ignoring the way his chin brushed up against the breathing tube that was now coming from her throat. "You are so special, to me and your daddy and to Carole, and to Finn. You have lots of people who love you and when you wake up.. it's going to be okay."

His tears dropped down onto her bed as he sobbed gently, not hearing the man he loved come into the room, not until he felt his arms around him. "Oh, Hiram.. why did this have to happen to her?" The shorter man shook his head, holding onto Leroy as his own tears fell down his face, "I don't know, but she will get through this."

They held each other for the longest time, until Finn came into the room, looking from the men to the girl on the bed. "She's going to be okay, right?" He whispered, moving over to the bed, staring up at her. "We hope so."

Finn nodded closing his eyes tight, holding his hands together, "I'm going to pray for her." The two men gave him a sad smile and then looked behind them at Carole, a sad smile on her face as she walked into the room, looking from her silent son, to Rachel and then back at the parents. She hugged them both, not saying a word before joining her son at the other side of the bed, clasping her own hands together. Hiram and Leroy bowed their heads, holding onto each other's hands as they said their own silent prayer.

~ .. ~

"Her chances of recovery are small..." Hiram stared up at the doctor, his heart beating quickly in his chest as he heard those words, repeating them in his head over and over again. His daughter might not recover, the odds were against her, there was a bigger chance that she would never get through this, and then they would lose her forever. He closed his eyes tight at the thought, sobs overtaking his body until he felt Leroy's strong arms around him, offering little comfort, but it was enough to keep the man sane for just a second.

"I am so sorry." The doctor walked away, leaving the two men alone to think about their little stars future. Leroy cried as he held Hiram close to him, wanting nothing more than to swap places with their daughter – she was so weak, so tired from all the chemotherapy that was barely working, how could she fight this? He wanted to believe she was strong enough, but he knew deep down that she was already putting up a fight against the cancer, now she had to fight against a lung infection.

He waited until they could both calm down until pulling the other man into the hospital room, slowly walking over to the baby girl. His eyes watered at the sight of the ventilation that was keeping her alive. "Please, please.." Leroy took one of her hands in his, Hiram taking the other and they both begged whoever was watching over them to take care of their little girl, to make sure she would live through this.

They stayed with her through every moment, taking it in turns to do a food run, or to go get some fresh air. Hiram even took the time to search for Rachel's biological mother, coming up with nothing, they knew she needed to say goodbye as much as they did – she may have signed a contract over to them, but she had carried the girl for nine months. They were told to prepare themselves for goodbye after six weeks, when her systems began failing.

_Six weeks. _Six weeks and they were being told to give up their daughter; they had cried when told her kidney's were failing, they had tried to be strong when she was put on dialysis and they had tried to remain strong when they were told she had little to no chance of waking up from the medically induced coma, that she wouldn't be able to breathe on her own. Hiram looked at his husband, "We have to find Shelby. She needs to say goodbye, too." Leroy nodded in agreement, not being able to say a word since he found out Rachel wouldn't make it. It had been almost a year since her diagnosis, just three weeks away from her sixth birthday. The world had never seemed so cruel.

~ .. ~

Finn moved through the days, becoming more and more withdrawn as time passed. It had been nearly two months since his birthday and Rachel still hadn't opened her eyes, he couldn't bring himself to open up the presents she had gotten for him. He stayed silent in school, just focusing on his work, and then he would go to the hospital with his mom, do his homework as he waited by Rachel's bedside, go home and go to sleep and repeat.

"It's not fair." He finally said one day, looking up at his mom who just looked back at him, waiting for him to explain, "I'm only six.. I should be worrying about my least favourite teacher, or losing my homework." He frowned, "I shouldn't have to worry about my best friend dying." Carole nodded, giving him a sad smile,

"I'm sorry, I know how hard this is for you.. are you sure you want to go to the hospital today?" Finn stared at her, his eyes wide,

"Of course I'm going, momma. I shouldn't have to worry about it, but.. she's my best friend. She's my only friend." She gave him the smallest of smiles, kissing his forehead before bringing him in for a huge hug. She wanted to hold onto him forever, wanting to believe that one day, Rachel would be okay. She wanted to hold her son and tell him that Rachel would be joining him in school soon, because she had gone into remission – she longed for that day to come.

"Finn." Carole stopped him before he could walk into the hospital room that day, kneeling down so she was his height as she looked him right in the eyes. "This is going to be hard for you to hear, I know baby... b-but you have to say your goodbyes. I am so sorry, honey.. the doctors don't think she'll make it this time, she's gotten too poorly." Finn's eyes watered, tears quickly spilling over as he looked from his mom to the hospital room doors.

"I-I can't say goodbye." He whispered finally, after remaining silent for a while, he looked at his mom with wide eyes, trying to stay strong when he saw the older woman about to cry. "She might make it through, right? There's a chance..."

Carole nodded, "A very small chance.. everyone thinks it'll be cruel based on that chance.. you don't want her to be hurting anymore, do you?" He shook his head quickly, frowning, his little heart breaking as he tried to imagine a life without the girl. He wouldn't know what to do after school anymore, he wouldn't be able to tell people that Rachel was coming to school and that she _did _exist. He wiped his eyes, before he walked into the room, walking over to her bed.

"Rach?" He whispered the nickname, barely recognising the girl anymore, tears falling down his face. "I don't want to say goodbye.. r-remember the essay I wrote? I.. I said you were going to make it and I don't care what anyone else says, you're going to make it.. you have to because we're going to go to school together and then I'm supposed to teach you how to ride a bike, r-right?" He couldn't stop the tears falling heavier down his face as he put his hand on top of hers,

"You're my best friend and I don't want you to hurt anymore. But I don't want to say goodbye. But just in case you're hurting too much, Rach.. I-I will say goodbye.. you've been my best friend, and I will miss you." He sniffed, slowly walking out of the room before running into his mom's arms, wrapping his arms tight around her as he cried. "I said goodbye.. I-I said it." He sobbed into her shoulder, Carole couldn't speak as she cried with him – both for Rachel, her dads and for her son. _"Please, Christopher, I never ask you for much.. and I know you're looking down on us. Please don't let this happen."_ She thought to herself, hoping that by some miracle, Rachel would beat the odds so she wouldn't have to help her six year old son mourn the loss of his best friend.

~ .. ~

Shelby walked into the room, tears already falling down her face as she mourned for the girl she never knew, and the girl she would never get to know now. She had been surprised when she received a phone-call from Leroy, who had explained how they had a private investigator search for her, he hadn't wanted to tell her the news over the phone but had begged her to return to Lima, and go to the hospital so that they could tell her there.

She hadn't hesitated. She had signed a contract because she was so young, and she had thought New York could offer her a happiness that being a mother could not, she had been so wrong. She had thought about the little girl so often, _too _often. She had longed to know what she was going, wishing she had at least begged the two men for photograph updates at least once a year. When she heard the news, she felt her heartbreaking – she had given them a daughter, and now they had to say goodbye to her before her sixth birthday. She wouldn't have wished that on her worst enemy.

She moved over to the girls bedside and took her hand, "You don't know me, but I'm your mommy." She took a deep breath, "I want to promise you that if by a miracle you wake up, and you make it through this, I am never going to leave you again. I will be the mommy you need, I will be with you every step of the way with your dads. Oh, Rachel.. please, please fight this, okay? You mean so much to me already and I barely know you, and your dad's, they love you so much and I don't think they would be able to cope without you in their lives."

She sobbed and moved a hand through the patches of hair that her daughter had, "You have so much more to look forward to, so much more to do with your life. I have so much I want to teach you, and so do your dads. We want to be able to see you go to school, we want to be there for your first day of high school, I want to be able to talk to you about your first crush, your first kiss.. your first boyfriend. You deserve all those things Rachel, and I really hope you can hear me.. _fight._ Fight for this, okay?" She sat down on the chair, not letting go of the girls hand, not taking her eyes off her.

"I guess I have to say goodbye, but I can't bring myself to – I haven't even said hello. So, I'm just going to stay here, and I'm going to hold your hand and if you want to let go, then you just do so and I will stay here, okay? I'm not leaving you again." She wiped her tears away, staying with the girl without even moving, wanting to make up for six years of no relationship. She needed to make up for that, even if the only way of doing so was by holding her daughter's hand while she died.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, as much as I like to believe I do. **

**A/N: Wow, we really did beat last chapters reviews. Please keep them coming, I am so excited for the future Finchel, and your reviews just make me write faster.**

**This update is rather short, and although it may seem rushed, it's just a sum-up for all things to come very soon. I will get the next (much longer) chapter up early tomorrow. So, don't forget to review!**

**Never Alone**

**Chapter Four**

"_Well, I have to be honest.. as much as I wanted, I'm not going to promise the cold winds won't blow. So, when hard times have found you and your fears surround you, wrap my love around you.. you're never alone." _

Hiram and Leroy stood on one side of the bed, tears falling down their face as Shelby sat on the other side, clutching at the girls hand. She was going to be turning six in five days, and the doctor's had already decided that she should be taken off the ventilation to end her suffering. The two men and her mother had agreed, not wanting to put their baby girl in anymore pain.

The sobs increased when the doctor slowly walked in with Carole, who looked sadly at the family, tears threatening to fall down her own face. She wanted nothing more than for the little girl to just wake up right now and tell them that she was going to be fine, that her autobiography would fly off the shelves when she told her story. She dabbed at her eyes, barely listening in on the conversation as the doctor went through the process. _You're giving up on their daughter, _was all she could think, not voicing her own opinion out loud as she instead chose to watch Shelby.

"Goodbye, little star.." Hiram whispered, kissing her forehead before turning away, covering his mouth as he cried out loud for the little girl they would never get to see grow up. Leroy stepped forward next, tears falling into the bed as he gently put a hand over hers,

"You're really special, and we will never forget you. Thank you for being so strong.. we are so proud of you." He kissed her forehead softly, taking a step back to put a hand on Hiram's shoulder.

Shelby took a deep breath, not being able to speak as she just kept her hold on the little girl, "C-can we hold her? W-when she.. _passes_?" She whispered the last word, tears falling quickly, sniffing when the doctor nodded,

"Of course.." He looked over at Carole, who could only shake her head before walking over to the machines, helping him slowly ease the tube from the girl's mouth, before flicking the switch. She cried for the little girl who would never get to go to school, Shelby sobbed for the little girl she would never know, and Hiram and Leroy cried for their little girl who didn't even spend six years with them.

Shelby climbed up on the bed, holding the tiny girl in her arms for the second time – the first time was just before they took her away from her, six years ago. And she kissed all over her face, her eyes widening, "S-should she be breathing? I mean.. she's breathing." Hiram and Leroy were the first by her bedside, as Shelby scrambled to get off to let the doctor look over the small girl.

"Nurse Hudson, go to radiography and tell them I'm on my way up with Rachel, okay?" She nodded and ran off, not being able to say a word as she hid her own tears, silently thanking Christopher or whoever it was to watch over that small girl her little boy loved so much.

"She's alive?" Hiram watched the doctor carefully, his heart beating quickly as he tried to comprehend the fact that the child he had just said goodbye to, the child he was trying to imagine a life without, may be alive after all. He held onto Leroy tightly as they both cried, looking from Rachel to the doctor, and back again.

"She has a pulse, it's weak but it's there.. I'm going to send her up to look at her lungs. It's a miracle, Mr and Mr Berry, but it seems as though the infection is finally clearing itself up. We told you when her kidney started failing, that it could be reversed, and hopefully that can begin now." He stared down at the girl, shaking his head, "It's a real miracle, she's fighting back." He explained the situation to a nurse who walked in, both of them not hesitating in moving the bed to go upstairs.

Hiram, Leroy and Shelby were left alone in the room, tears silently falling as they looked at the door their daughter had just been wheeled from. "She's a fighter." Leroy finally said, smiling through his tears, "She's fighting.. s-she.." He sobbed, laughing at the same time before wrapping his arms tight around the two adults, "She's our fighter. She's going to get through this."

~ .. ~

Hiram couldn't keep the smile off his face as he sat next to Rachel's bedside, she had woken up just hours before, and had only just fallen asleep again after she talked non-stop about all the voices she heard when she was asleep. He didn't let go of her hand, his other hand in Leroy's who had rested his own hand on her leg, neither of them quite being able to believe that this was real.

The doctor had explained to them that it was nothing short of a miracle that she had been able to breathe on her own, that she had recovered from the chest infection after two months of nothing working. He had patted them both on the back and shook his head in disbelief as he grinned, "Your daughter truly is a wonderful miracle. Just in time for Christmas, too." They had both smiled proudly, and thanked him.

Her kidney began normal functioning, to which they had both been relieved – they still had the cancer to fight, they didn't need to put her on another transplant list, too. They had kissed all over her face, holding her close when she woke up, they had told her how proud they were of her, how much she meant to them, how she had really had a dramatic recovery in true Rachel Berry fashion.

Shelby treasured the short conversation she had with the girl, who assured the woman that she had heard her and she was glad she could have a mommy in her life like all the other children. She had cried, and she had comforted her, and she had finally said those words she had been longing to say, "I love you, Rachel." and when the little girl said them back, she had to leave the room because she didn't want to have another break-down.

Carole had dropped in to say hello, giving the young girl a huge hug, promising her that she would bring Finn around the next day. She personally couldn't wait to go home and hold her son in her arms, and tell him how Rachel had beaten the odds, that he wouldn't have to attend her funeral, and that maybe one day, Rachel would be able to join him in school. She smiled at the thought, thinking about how sad her son had been for the past two months, and how much this would mean to him. He was too young to completely understand about death, and if she was honest, she didn't really want him to completely comprehend just yet. He was only six years old, he was too young.

Hiram, Leroy and Shelby stayed at her beside all night, all three of them making sure they held onto her in case she would disappear and they would all wake up and find it was nothing more than a hopeful dream.

~ .. ~

It had been a month since they had almost lost Rachel, and she was still going strong. Physiotherapy exhausted her, causing her to snap at everyone, something which the two dads found hard to get used to. She had even made Finn cry and run out of the room once, after she told him that she didn't even want him to visit her anymore. He didn't visit again for two weeks.

Finn sighed before he went into the room, it had been the longest two weeks of his life since he had last saw Rachel but his mother had told him it was best to stay away while she was so sick. Carole had watched the girl lately, and saw her pushing everyone away as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and physiotherapy began to take it's toll on her tiny body. "Rachel?" He knocked before he entered, slowly entering the room with caution, looking at the girl on the bed, "Can I come in?" He whispered, hesitating as she nodded before he walked over to her bed.

"I'm sorry." Rachel bit down on her lip, tears already falling down her face as she looked at her best friend, "I thought you were never going to come back, and I got so scared that I had lost you forever. I'm really sorry, Finn.. I didn't mean to make you upset.. I-I.. I'm so tired all the time and everyone keeps telling me that I'm strong but I don't feel strong."

Finn frowned and took her hand, jumping up on the bed, "You _are _strong, Rachel. My momma said that everyone thought you were going to die, and you're still here.. I know I don't know how you feel and stuff but.. I want to be your best friend still and if you want to shout at me, if that makes you feel better.. I know it sometimes makes my mom feel better to shout sometimes, so yeah.. I'll stay right here." He grinned at her innocently, and wrapped both his arms around her.

Rachel smiled through her tears and held onto him, "Thank you, you're the best friend anyone could ever ask for, Finny." He smiled and nodded, before laying next to her,

"Sleep time for you, young lady." She giggled and snuggled up to him, closing her eyes tight. "I love you, Rachy."

"I love you too, Finny." She whispered through a huge yawn, quickly falling asleep. Finn fell asleep with a huge smile on his face, glad to finally have his best friend back after two weeks.

~ .. ~

Shelby was a match for Rachel's bone marrow. A transplant that could save her life. She didn't hesitate when she found out, she knew she could never make up for missing out on six years, but she could at least make sure there was at least another eighty to come. The operation was to be just a few days before her seventh birthday, around the two year anniversary of her diagnosis, and she could only hope that it would make the two years their daughter fought for her life, completely worth it.

The process was long, and drawn out – it involved a ten day conditioning phase, and then five day chemotherapy, followed by six weeks in isolation with physiotherapy as well. Although they knew it would be worth it in the end if it meant their daughter being completely cancer-free, they were worried about how isolation would effect the already fragile girl – if they caught something as minor as a cold during the six weeks, they wouldn't even be allowed in the room to see her and that broken their hearts.

But, the process began, with Shelby recovering from the surgery, and Hiram and Leroy standing by her bedside, both hoping this could be the cure the doctors expected it to be. Rachel grew more and more tired, unable to eat, barely opening her eyes as the ten days passed, continually attached to the blood transfusion, causing her to feel sick. The five days that followed only made the nausea worse, and Hiram found himself crying when their little star cried herself to sleep one night because she was in so much pain.

The six weeks that followed were the hardest of the two years, the three parents spending the whole time wondering if all this was going to be worth it in the end, if they could take that little girl home and finally be able to say that she was in remission. Leroy came down with the flu two weeks into the six week isolation period, meaning Hiram couldn't go into the room either because he had been _contaminated. _Which left just Shelby, who helped with physiotherapy easily, eager to show the girl some dance moves she had learned on Broadway.

Finn found the six weeks difficult – he hadn't been allowed in at all, despite the fact he hadn't really had any infections that could affect the recovery rate of the girl, but the doctors decided it was in Rachel's best interest that the chance be taken out. Finn had to go to school every single day, he could pick up any germs and they didn't really want to take any risk with the girl they had almost lost.

They celebrated her seventh birthday – another milestone they had been told she would not make it to – with a huge cake and way too many presents for just one girl. Finn had proudly given her dads a rare, signed copy of 'Funny Girl' which he and his mom had found purely by chance just a few weeks before, and a card to tell her how much he missed her.

And for the first time in two years, once the six weeks were up, Hiram and Leroy proudly walked their daughter out of the hospital, and back to their house for the weekend. Things were really looking up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, as much as I like to believe I do. **

**A/N: I managed to get into my sister's bedroom, which is the only room downstairs, meaning I can stay up as late as I want without my parents knowing! I couldn't resist updating because of your response to the chapters, let's try and make it to 100 for this chapter! **

**Also, next chapter will be a time-skip. Either to 10/11 years old, or 12/13 and I would like you all to decide which one you would rather see!**

**Never Alone**

**Chapter Five**

"_I'll be in every beat of your heart when you face the unknown." _

Rachel smiled widely at the doctor as he checked her over, her legs hung over the edge of the bed and she swung them gently, still getting used to the feeling of being strong enough to actually walk around without wanting to collapse after a few minutes. She looked around the room she had to call her bedroom for so long now, wondering if today was the day she would finally be free. "Well, looking at the blood counts, I would say that Miracle here is a very healthy, little girl." He grinned at her, ruffling the tufts of hair that were slowly growing back before turning to look at the two men.

"She's in remission.." He gave them both a smile and looked at Rachel, before turning back to them, "Now, it's not quite over yet, we need her here once a week for now for one cycle of chemotherapy. As time goes on it'll be once a month and so on.. and this will be for the next three years to make sure we fight off all those cancer cells. But, she's in the clear at the moment." Hiram and Leroy took a deep breath, finally feeling relieved for the first time in over two years, running over to their daughter to hug her tight. There was finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

Rachel looked at her two dads, the biggest grin on her face – she had been diagnosed when she was just four years old, most of her memories were of the hospital, of herself being sick, and now she was seven and a half years old and she wanted nothing more than to finally be a normal child. She longed to go to school, have friends her own age – her only friends consisted of Finn and then the doctors and nurses in the hospital. She wanted to go back to her dance lessons, her singing lessons, she wanted to go to the park and eat ice-cream, and she wanted to be able to run around outside without worrying that she was going to catch a cold. It was scary, even to someone as young as her, that something as minor as catching a cold, something that everyone caught at some point in their life, could kill her. And now it was over.

She held onto her dads as tight as she could, not being able to stop smiling at the thought of living a normal life. She knew she would have to go back to the hospital once a week, but it was nothing compared to the years of treatment she had undergone to even get this far. "Can I go to school?" She finally broke the cries of happiness, looking up at her dads with big eyes, "The same school as Finn, of course." She flashed them both a smile when they nodded,

"Yes, yes.. a thousand times, yes." Hiram whispered against her head, holding her to his chest as he cried, "We'll see when you can start.." He closed his eyes tight, feeling Leroy squeeze his shoulder, they had both been longing for the day when they could do something as simple as wave their daughter off for her first day of school, they had dreamed of the day but it had seemed like nothing more than a hopeless dream, something that could never happen because everyone had told them that she wouldn't make it. And Rachel had proved them all wrong.

~ .. ~

Rachel looked at herself in the mirror, beaming at her reflection as she tried to ignore the way her hair looked. It was growing back, but it was coming slowly and at the moment she had a few bald patches, which she knew would grow with time – she just had to learn to be patient. She straightened out her dress, putting her cardigan on quickly before running down the stairs, twirling around for her dads and her mom. "Dad, daddy, mommy.. do I look pretty?"

Shelby wiped a tear from her eye and nodded, kneeling down to look at the little girl, "You look beautiful.. go grab your lunch, we don't want to keep Finn waiting, do we?" Rachel shook her head, gasping a little too dramatically before running off into the kitchen, leaving the three adults in the sitting room.

"I always knew she'd be a bundle of energy.." Leroy laughed, looking at the other two. He and Hiram had asked Shelby to move in with them, thinking it best until Rachel was a little older, and they would share custody, without worrying about the impact it could have on Rachel's daily life. She was finally in remission, but she still got moments of complete fatigue, especially after her chemotherapy sessions that still had to continue for the next three years.

Shelby flashed them both a smile when Rachel came back, "Are we all ready to go?" Hiram grabbed a camera and gestured for Shelby to get into a photograph with Rachel, both of them grabbed onto each other, shouting "Broadway!" when the flash went off. The photographs ensued – one with each parent, and then loads with just Rachel. Rachel in the car on the way to the school, Rachel about to get out of the car, Rachel outside the school, Rachel walking into the school. Hiram wanted to keep every single memory, because they would all look back on this day in a few years, and want to remember that Rachel _made it. _

Finn waited by reception for his best friend, a huge smile on his face as he thought about spending their first day of school together. Their parents had specifically requested that Rachel be put on the same schedule as him so she would have someone she knew with her at all times, as she settled into the daily school routine.

He grinned when he finally saw the tiny girl, who could easily pass as five years old, instead of almost eight. "Rachel!" He ran over to her, wrapping her in a hug before grabbing her hand to pull her to the office she was supposed to go to. Rachel giggled and held onto his hand, giving a shy wave to the woman behind the desk. The woman – Mrs Adams – gave the smaller girl a kind smile before handing her the schedule, "I trust you can show her where everything is, Mr Hudson?" He gave her a reassuring nod of his head,

"I sure can!" He eagerly pulled her off, checking the paper she held in her hand, "Oh hey, your locker is next to mine! How lucky is that?" He smirked, knowing how much he had to pay in candy to the guy that usually resided in the locker next to his, in order to make sure Rachel pretty much spent her entire time in the school with him. He had been waiting for the moment she would make it into school, and the moment she would be fully recovered for so long, he was excited that he could finally stick by someone in school.

He had friends, just none like Rachel. He was quiet, he didn't like the way some of the people in his class already prided themselves on how popular they were already, and since he had met Rachel, he would much rather prefer to sit and listen during a lesson, instead of messing around like some of the other guys would do. He showed her how to open the locker, and gave her a big smile. "We have English first, I bought all the books you need." He said as he handed them to her, "And it's pretty much everything me and you used to work on together. I wrote down all the notes you've missed over the past week because we haven't seen each other much, see?" He opened the notebook and showed her, proudly smiling.

Rachel blushed a little, though she wasn't completely sure why when she looked down at the neat writing on the pages, "Thank you, Finn.. you're really sweet." She smiled, tip toeing up to kiss his cheek before walking to class with him. She didn't notice Finn's face flush red as he walked next to her, the eight year old not completely understanding why her kissing him had even made him feel like that – he blushed when his mom kissed him in front of anyone, so he figured it must be because he was allergic to public kisses.. or something. He nodded at the thought, yeah, he was allergic to public kisses.

He walked into the classroom, moving quickly to the two seats at the front that were always vacated. Rachel gave him a small smile, sitting down where he told her to. "Oh my god, what is with her hair?"

"I have no idea, are you sure it's a _she_?" Rachel bit down on her lip when she heard the words coming from the girls behind her, not turning around to see who it was that was so quick to judge, tears forming in her eyes when she heard laughter erupt from others in the classroom.

"You know, they really shouldn't allow freaks in this school." Finn gripped hard onto his book, turning to look at Rachel in time to see a tear fall down her cheek. His heart dropped and he quickly stood up, turning to face Noah Puckerman,

"Shut up about her." He watched Noah stand up, for once thanking his dad for his height as he stood just above the other boy, his glare fixed on him.

"I'll say what I want, _loser_." Noah smirked and shook his head, "Oh, I see.. little Finn has a crush on the other loser." Finn saw red – Rachel wasn't a loser, she was anything but. He wanted to tell everyone how Rachel fought for her life, how she shouldn't even be in this room with them but she fought and she fought and she won, and that made her a winner. Not a loser. He punched the boy square in the face, barely registering Rachel's scream for him to stop as he found himself on the floor, hitting out at Noah, as the boy fought back.

He didn't even hear the teacher come into the room, not until the woman was pulling him off Noah, both of them bloody and beaten. "She's **not** a loser!" He fought the tears that were threatening to fall down his face, before he felt himself being pulled out of the room, along with Noah. The fact that Rachel wasn't even in the room anymore, didn't go missed by him. He glared at the other boy before they were taken to the principals office, groaning at the thought of his mom having to come to collect him from school.

Rachel had run out of the room when Noah had punched Finn back, tears poured down her face as she grabbed the phone her daddy had given her in case she had an emergency. She felt her heart thump heavily against her chest, struggling to breath as her chest seemed to tighten, she closed her eyes tight before running out of the school, phoning her daddy quickly, "_Hello?"_

"Daddy..." She sobbed and held her chest with her spare hand, trying to take deep breaths, "S-school... wanna go.. home.." She cried harder, putting the phone on the ground as she waited on the steps for him to come collect her. She tried to focus on her breathing, until she felt a familiar pair of arms wrap themselves around her and pick her up, she felt herself being lifted into the car and into another pair of arms. She inhaled her mom's scent, snuggling into the woman's chest as the woman rubbed her back, frowning at Hiram who drove slowly,

"She's having a panic attack." Shelby explained softly, seeing the worry in the other man's eyes as he kept glancing back at the girl she held in her arms. "She'll be okay once she calms down." He gave a hesitant nod before finally pulling into the neighbourhood, relief taking over when he heard Rachel's breathing return to normal.

He sat her down with some water when they finally got inside the house, before they asked her what was wrong. "F-Finn got into a fight.. a-and he was bleeding.." She sniffed sadly and cuddled into her mom, closing her eyes before taking a sip from her water. "He was sticking up for me and then he punched the boy in the face but the boy hit him back and then they wouldn't stop, so I ran out because I got scared.."

Hiram frowned and rubbed her back, "Why did Finn have to stick up for you?"

"They called me a freak, a-and said they didn't know if I was a boy or a girl." She took another gulp of her water, before handing it to the man, "So Finn told them to stop it and then they called me a loser and Finn just got mad.." She sniffled sadly, snuggling closer with her mom, the days events having been too much for her still weak body, as she found herself drifting off to sleep quickly.

Shelby gave Hiram a quick shake of her head, holding Rachel closer to her when she felt the girl falling asleep. She pointed to the stairs and picked Rachel up gently, slowly moving so not to wake the already sleeping girl, before she tucked her into bed. She sighed, before she went back downstairs, "Well, that didn't go as planned." She frowned, sitting next to Hiram who just shook his head, groaning.

~ .. ~

Finn came around the next day, smiling shyly at the two men who answered the door, "Is Rachel up for coming out to play?" He suddenly felt conscious of the black eye he was sporting when he looked at them both, biting down on his lip. "Is she mad at me? They shouldn't have called her a loser, she's not a loser.. and they made me so mad. They shouldn't have said that about her, not about her." He mumbled the last bit, looking down at the ground.

"We know kid, we know.." Leroy sighed and put a hand on the boys shoulder, leading him inside, "You know where Rachel's room is, can you take her outside to get some fresh air, she's not left her room all day." Finn nodded, giving them both a smile before he took off upstairs, not bothering to knock on the star decorated door before barging into her bedroom. "Rachel! Come on, I'm finally going to teach you how to ride a bike!" She looked at him, moving from the desk she had been sitting at to touch the bruise on his face,

"You shouldn't have done that.." She whispered, her tear-filled eyes causing that familiar heart dropping feeling he had felt every time she was upset, or he let her down.

"You're my best friend, I had to stick up for you. I don't regret it, Rachel." He had stood his ground with his mother the day before, telling her that it was wrong to talk about Rachel that way and he wasn't going to let it happen. Even if it meant getting in trouble, he wasn't going to let anyone bully his best friend. "You're not a loser." He grabbed her hand, "Now come on, I want to show you how!" He grinned when she finally relented, holding onto his hand tight before both kids went speeding down the stairs, running outside.

Finn helped the girl onto her bike, making sure her helmet was completely secure, "I'm going to do what my momma did to me.. it's gonna hurt if you don't get it completely right the first time but you gotta stick with it." He gave her a huge grin when Rachel nodded, a determined look on her face as she held onto the handlebars of her brand new bike. He ran with the bike, finally letting go when he felt her secure enough, grinning when she began to pedal with ease.

"You're doing it, Rach! The first time, too! You're doing it!" He jumped on his own bike, following her quickly, riding beside her as both of them had the biggest smiles on their faces.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: See last few chapters. **

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, you are all so amazing. 12/13 won by a lot, so here we go! Also, there's going to be some drama coming up very soon, to warn you. **

**I noticed a few people do previews of chapters at the end, would you guys like that or should I avoid that?**

**Never Alone**

**Chapter Six**

Rachel wrapped her arms around her thirteen year old best friend, giggling when her parents and Carole all rolled their eyes, "You two are inseparable." Shelby muttered, grinning at the two kids who just looked at each other and shrugged. Rachel snuggled into the boy who had undergone a massive growth spurt over the summer, while she had been celebrating a whole one inch in growth. She smiled at him and then looked over at the parents who had been looking at them, giving them both an innocent smile before she turned back to Finn, ruffling his hair. "You would look cute with a bit of stubble." She agreed with his previous statement, nodding her head once before she burst out laughing. Finn pretended to look offended, tickling her sides before insisting that he could easily grow a beard, even if no one else thought he could.

Hiram, Leroy, Shelby and Carole adored their friendship over the years, but as the two were getting older, they saw more in their movements. Rachel would be thirteen soon, an age they had been dreading not only because it was an end of her childhood, but because it could mean a whole new potential relationship with Finn. Hiram and Leroy had already started imagining their threatening speech to the young boy, about treating their little girl right and Carole and Shelby were dreading the "no sex until you're at eighteen" speech.

They had all noticed the way Rachel would cuddle into the older boy whenever she could – it had been that way since she was five years old, but it seemed to be getting more and more intimate as the time passed. They noticed how Finn spoke to Rachel, how neither of them had ever mentioned anyone else, and how they looked at each other. The parents knew that despite their young age, it wouldn't be long until those went from best friends, to boyfriend and girlfriend. And while they wouldn't want anyone else to be with their children, they knew it would take time getting used to the change.

Rachel giggled at something Finn whispered in her ear, and Hiram gripped Carole's hand a little tighter, his eyes wide as he watched the scene in front of him. The woman only laughed and gave his hand a pat, rolling her eyes slightly, "We're just going to have to deal with it when they finally reach an age where they want that kind of relationship." She whispered to the other man, who could only nod as he watched the teenager and the almost teenager, not taking his eyes off them for the whole night.

~ .. ~

Rachel grinned when she got out of the car, shouting a goodbye to her mom before she ran over to Finn, taking his extended hand as they walked into the school. "So, I won't be in school tomorrow because I have my monthly chemotherapy session, but want to meet up afterwards so you can catch me up on what I missed?" The doctors had decided to extend her chemotherapy after a scare when she was ten years old. They found cancer cells during a check-up, she was clear again just a few months later and luckily, they had caught it in enough time that she didn't get sick at all.

Finn nodded, "I'll write notes for you, just remember to give me your notebooks for the classes, okay?" He and Rachel had a system – if one of them had to miss school or a class, the other would neatly take notes for them, so there was barely any catching up to do. The boy ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the smaller girl, a huge grin on his face, he was only thirteen years old but he had been her best friend for eight years, and he knew that Rachel would one day be his girlfriend. He smiled a little at the thought, confirming what everyone already said about them. He discovered that he liked her as more than a friend when he had seen her talking to Mike Chang a few weeks ago, he had wanted to go up to the boy and punch him for even _looking_ at her, but he chose to go over there and wrap an arm around her shoulder, his eyes saying 'mine' as he tried to politely converse with the other boy. Rachel hadn't minded, her own arm snaking around his waist as she smiled at Mike before they said their goodbyes. Finn couldn't help but feel just a little bit smug.

They sat next to each other for every class, they passed notes even though they spent pretty much every moment of the day together. He loved the way they always found something to talk about, no matter what. He would sometimes catch her looking at him, and she would quickly look away and blush, trying to concentrate on her work when he caught her. And she had caught him a few (thousand) times looking at her. He knew their parents would tease them, and their friends were constantly commenting, about how they both had a crush on each other. _"My baby boys first crush" _his mom would always say as she pinched his cheeks, grinning happily and walking off before he could even deny it.

He had spent weeks choosing the _perfect _present to give her, he had spent endless hours searching on google until he found something he really wanted to get for her. He used his life savings – he hid the money in his bedroom so his mom would never find it and ask him why he had so much – from doing various chores for his neighbours. And he made his way to the shop. He remembered how the sales person had called him cute, and he had frowned because he was trying to buy something for his future girlfriend, not his mom – like they had assumed.

He held the present close to his chest as he made his way through the mall, quickly going to another shop to get a decoy present for the girl as well. He wanted to give her something in private before the Berry men glared at him, and before the two mom's squealed happily and told him how adorable he was. He rolled his eyes at the thought, grabbing a teddy bear and Rachel's favourite candy before paying for that, a plan forming in his mind.

~ .. ~

It was her thirteenth birthday; her parents cried on every single birthday, and she would always be reminded that she should never have lived to this age, so she wasn't terribly excited as Finn had been on his thirteenth birthday. She sighed as she got out of bed, making her way downstairs to politely open some presents, have a birthday breakfast while her parents cried over their pancakes and told her how much they loved her before she could escape upstairs and phone Finn before he came over.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her parents – they were predictable – as they sat there and cried, trying to smile through the tears as they all hugged her, playing with her now long hair, telling her how much they loved her and how happy they were that she was another year old. She wondered if they would be half as dramatic if they were crying over the anniversary of her death, she scoffed at the thought.

The day went slowly until Finn and Carole arrived, she smiled gratefully at the presents – a little disappointed at the present from Finn, but she thanked him anyway because she knew he would have bought it with his own money, so it was perfect. She put the bear with her many other bears that she had collected from Finn over eight years, before getting ready for the birthday dinner.

When Rachel looked back at her thirteenth birthday, she wouldn't tell anyone that her parents cried, or about how lucky she was to even make it that far. She wouldn't even be able to remember the presents she was given, or what they had to eat, or that her parents had allowed her to have her first sip of wine as a treat. She would tell them of the memory that followed all of that, when her birthday was slowly coming to an end.

Finn grabbed her hand, smiling at her as he pulled her from their parents, "Let's watch the sunset, I know you love doing that." She nodded and walked out to the garden with him before he dragged her to the hammock, getting in it before pulling her in it with him, pressing her against his chest like they always did. Rachel felt her heart fluttering as her hand pressed against his chest, both of them looking up at the sky.

"I got you another present." Finn whispered, his voice uncertain as he unwrapped his arms from around her, pulling a box from his pocket, giving her a lop-sided grin as she took it from him. She opened it, gasping a little as she saw the bracelet, that held two charms. "I'm going to get you a charm for every special occasion." He grinned at her, taking the bracelet, taking her hand in his before clasping it up.

"The heart is.. well, it symbols me and you.." He blushed slightly and bit down on his lip, "And the lion means strength.. which is all you, babe." Rachel closed her eyes to make sure she didn't cry,

"It's perfect, Finn.. thank you." She whispered, opening her eyes again to look into his, "I love it so much.." He gave her a small smile, both of them gulping when he moved his hand to brush some of her hair behind her ear. Both of them moved their heads closer, their lips close together, slightly brushing against her lips, Finn gained the courage to softly place his lips on hers, closing his eyes.

Rachel gently kissed back, surprised at how soft his lips were, realizing how long she had longed to kiss him for. She smiled against his lips, his tongue running along her lower lip, before she granted him entry. It felt right that she give her first kiss to him, and that she take his first kiss, it was something they would always share. They kissed until they had to pull away for air, neither of them noticing the four pair of eyes that had been watching them as they settled down into the hammock, Rachel with her head on Finn's chest as they watched the sunset, both of them with huge smiles on their faces.

"Did they just..." Hiram trailed off, staring at the other three as they all nodded in unison. Shelby and Carole resisted the urge to squeal as they saw the men were debating whether they were going to storm out there and demand Finn leave, or if they were just going to drop it.

"You can't ruin the moment for them, it was their first kiss... they'll want to remember it." Shelby warned the two men, giving them a stern look as they both nodded slowly, glaring at the boy who was holding their daughter.

"Why couldn't they wait until they were eighteen until they realized they wanted to be more than friends? Or better yet, why couldn't they just stay friends?" Leroy sighed dramatically, and walked into the sitting room, groaning. "We should have locked her in her bedroom so she would never meet any boys, or sent her to Crawford where she would never know any boys." He rubbed his eyes and looked at the other three adults,

"We knew this day was going to home." Carole offered kindly, sitting down on the couch with Shelby, as they both rolled their eyes, secretly planning Finn's and Rachel's wedding in their head as both men thought about ways to get rid of Finn for good. All four adults were in the middle of their plots when the two teenagers – Hiram and Leroy bitterly thought of the word 'teenager' when they looked at their daughter – walked into the room, the smiles not leaving their face.

Shelby and Carole gave them both a smile back, noticing the way Finn had his arm wrapped around the smaller girl's shoulders, as her arm barely extended over his waist. She snuggled into his side, "We're just going upstairs to watch a movie." Rachel told them, thinking nothing of the statement – her and Finn had regular movie nights since she had gotten out of the hospital years before.

Leroy jumped up, "No you will not!"

"Leroy, honey, calm down..." Shelby stood up as well, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Leave the door open, sweeties.. okay?"

Rachel looked at two of her parents, her eyes wide, "Y-you.. you saw? You were _spying_ on us?" She looked at all four of them, her eyes watering at the thought of her parents seeing her first kiss (okay, she knew she was being a bit dramatic, but she certainly earned that from her parents), the moment didn't seem half as romantic now that she knew the four adults had shared it with them. She felt her face flush red, and Finn stiffen beside her before he took his arms from her shoulder, stepping away from her as he stared at her dads.

"Do you want me to go?" Finn weakly said, looking at his mom for help before looking at the two dads he had gotten so close to in the years he had been Rachel's best friend. He bit down on his lip nervously, glancing at Rachel who looked ready to cry, the blush on her cheeks only getting deeper as the silence crept among them.

"What are your intentions with our daughter?" Hiram finally asked, sitting down finally, his eyes not leaving Finn. The thirteen year old boy felt his heart beating quickly, his hands getting clammy, his eyes getting wider as he tried to think of what could be the right answer.

"I-Intentions?" He stammered out, wanting to hit himself as soon as he had spoke, he was pretty sure that was not the right answer.

"Are you going to ask her to be your girlfriend or do you make a habit of kissing girls?" Finn saw Rachel stiffen from the corner of his eye, and he turned to look at her before quickly looking back at Hiram and Leroy, he wished Shelby or his mom would say something to help him out but neither made a move to even intervene, instead the two women just sat there with amused expressions on their faces.

"I-I don't make a habit..." He felt himself going red, "T-that was my first.. k-kiss.." He felt himself getting increasingly nervous, his hand running through his hair as he tried to calm himself down. "I want Rachel to be my girlfriend." He whispered finally, his eyes closing – Rachel had made him sit through so many romantic movies, he had wanted to ask her in the most epic, romantic way so she would say that one day, their relationship would be a movie. He wanted to make her smile, and he wanted to let everyone know that she was his. He certainly hadn't planned on asking her in front of their parents, as he stuttered and stammered over his words, his cheeks a dark shade of red as his heart thumped quickly against his chest.

"So you want to date our daughter?" Leroy asked, glaring at Finn slightly,

"I-I do.. maybe? If you'd let me.. I-I mean.. we're only thirteen but everyone says we may as well be dating.. j-just making it official.. you know." He groaned inwardly, feeling Rachel's hand on his arm.

"Dad, daddy.. you _like_ Finn, would you rather me bring a stranger home and tell you that I was dating him? You've both known Finn for as long as I have, and we're only thirteen so you don't have to worry about any of that.. stuff... you could possibly lecture us on. Can we just.. stop being awkward?" Finn sighed, thanking whoever was watching over him for giving him Rachel, she was mature beyond her years, her voice firm and educated as she stared down her dads. Her glare fixed on them both as they finally relented, and nodded at the two teenagers.

"I guess.. but there are different rules now. Door open when you are both in the bedroom, Finn you can no longer sleepover.. and Rachel you can't sleepover at his house, either, before you ask. And no kissing in front of us." Hiram muttered the last rule, as Leroy whispered beside him,

"No kissing at all." Even Hiram had to roll his eyes at that one, ignoring Shelby and Carole when they burst out laughing, having always predicted this day would come very soon. They just wanted it to be later, rather than sooner.

Finn nodded firmly and held Rachel close to him, "No problem at all, Hiram and Leroy. D-do I have to call you Sir's or something now that I'm not just her best friend anymore?" He looked confused, wondering where this new relationship with their daughter would lead him with the two men he had always admired.

"Hiram and Leroy will do, no point changing it after eight years." Leroy grumbled, motioning for them to go upstairs. "Door open, remember!" Both of them nodded quickly before Rachel grabbed his hand, giggling when she pulled him up the stairs. All four adults laughed a little when they heard the girl mocking the boy as they walked up the steps to her bedroom.

Rachel pulled Finn down onto her bed like she always did, turning on the movie as she snuggled into him. It was a simple movement that she had always done since she was five years old, but as his girlfriend, it somehow meant to much more. Finn moved his hand into hers, their fingers intertwining as they watched the movie together, both of them smiling giddily as they thought about the day as a whole.

**A/N: They finally kissed! Please don't forget to review – I would love any ideas you all have for drama or anything you want to see. Thank you for reading. **


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This chapter is Rachel's POV from the age of fifteen, the next one will be Finn's at the same point in time!

Disclaimer: See last chapters.

Never Alone

Chapter Seven

Rachel moved to sit in her usual place under the tree, pulling out a book as she bit down on her lip and looked around. High school had been harder than she ever thought it would be, and at fifteen years old, she was struggling to actually find some sort of identity. Finn had found his quickly, and easily, and just as he had found that, he forgot about her. The thought broke her heart, as she searched the school grounds for him, spotting him throwing some kid in a dumpster, his football uniform standing out as he high fived his best friends; who just happened to be the very people who used to bully the two of them just years previously. Now, a sophomore in high school, she had just gotten used to the loneliness. People thought she was weird, never really understanding why sometimes, she had to leave school to go to appointments, or why she mostly kept to herself. She had tried to make friends, she had tried to fit in with the crowd but it had been too difficult – she had lost too much time when she wasn't in school, and because her only friend had been Finn, she had no one to move up to high school with when the time came.

They had lasted an entire week into high school, before Finn came up to her, his friends pushing him along as they laughed and smirked, their laughter only getting louder when she had burst into tears and run off. He wanted to move on from her, she was holding him back, he needed to do things by himself and she would just have to wait until he was ready to be with her. She didn't wait, though, she didn't hold her breath as she just watched him date cheerleaders, and score goals, and bully the kids with less popularity than he. And she would never forget the day he threw a slushy in her face, his undeniable smirk but a sense of sadness in his eyes that she could only try and push back. It broke her heart to know how little he thought of her now, how she was nothing to him. The years of friendship were gone, and after almost two years in high school now, she knew it would never come back.

She ran her fingers through her long hair, a faint trace of a smile on her face as she sighed and leaned back against the tree. She still treasured the memories she had shared with the person who used to be her best friend, but now, at the same time, it all broke her heart to think about what they had, and what they could have. It was gone, he had forgotten about it and she knew she had to at least try and move on from him. Her parents, and Carole had long since stopped speaking, another thing that broke her heart because the two families had been so close, another thing damaged by high school, she guessed. It was just something that happened, her dads had told her as Shelby held her when she cried.

At the beginning of sophomore year, cancer cells had been found on one of her appointments, and she found herself wondering if it would ever be over. If her body would just keep creating something that would end up killing her, and she would have no choice but to let it happen, instead of fighting it all the time. Luckily, it was over as quickly as it came about, but at the same time, when Finn heard the news, she had hoped it would have been enough to make him come check on her. It hadn't been, and the next day when she got back from a few weeks out of school to recover, she was met with a slushy in her face from his girlfriend. He didn't even look her way, or ask her if she was okay and she knew right then that popularity would always come first.

She took a deep breath, frowning when a shadow blocked her view of the book before she looked up and gave the person in front of her a small smile. She liked Mr Schue; he was the Spanish teacher, and now the director for the New Directions, and as much as she had wanted to join so she could sing again, she had refrained from doing so. She hadn't wanted to hold back a group of talented people, in case she got sick again. "Hello, Mr Schuester." She slowly came to a stand, tucking her book away in her bag, trying to remember if she had forgotten anything for his Spanish class – no, she had done her homework, she was sure of it.

The curly haired man just grinned at the girl before he motioned for her to walk with him, "I want you to join Glee club." He finally said, giving her a small smile when she shook her head, "I know you're nervous about it, I know you have told me a million times over that you don't want to, and I know why but… I really think it will be good for you." He had seen her get slushied, he had heard the names she was called, he had seen her sitting on her own ever since she got to the school and he knew the New Directions would be somewhere she finally felt as though she belonged. It was just a case of getting the shy, loner girl to actually want to be a part of the club that he thought would be fantastic for her.

The brunette was really tired of telling him no, over and over again as she just sighed and shook her head, "I don't know, I mean… you all have a group dynamic already, and I don't want to get in the way of that." She was in classes with some of the Glee kids, and she knew there wasn't too many of them – Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, Mike and Artie made up the Glee club that had been running for about half the school year, already, and she wasn't even sure how to blend into that. But, the dismissal of her words from the teacher only made her want to run away as he put a hand on her shoulder, stopping them both in their tracks, "Can you please give it a try? You could make friends, and have fun and it's always worth a try, right?" She had to admit that he made a point, as she slowly bit down on her lip and nodded her head, wishing she didn't regret the decision.

~ .. ~

The slushies came more regularly now, the laughing and the name calling as she walked down the hallway, instead of just being the invisible girl she had been since Freshman year. But, she didn't mind it because for the first time in her entire life, she had a group of friends. There weren't many of them, not enough to perform in a competition or anything like that, but they were happy in Glee club, the choir room was their home and she found herself smiling as she walked down the hallways of McKinley High. She had read somewhere, something about happiness playing a key part in a patient's recovery from cancer, and she honestly believed it now. She went to sleepovers, she actually left the house to hang out with people, it was the most amazing feeling since Finn had abandoned her in his need for popularity.

Rachel smiled at her best friend as she wiped the slushy from his eyes, wetting the towel she held in her hands as she moved onto the rest of his face. Kurt was truly a wonderful friend, they were both outcasts for something they couldn't help – she had been sick her entire life, leaving her left out of all the games, and making friends, and essential parts of school life and Kurt, he was gay. And in a small town like Lima, it was like being sick, and no one wanted to catch it. Both of them had been thrown onto the outskirts, and had found each other thanks to music. She was moving on with her life, moving on to a life without Finn.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Wow! I was shocked by the amount of reviews I got for the last chapter, so I made sure to fit in time to get this one up for today. I hope you all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: See last chapters.

Never Alone

Chapter Eight

High school was amazing; for him, it was one of the best times he had ever had. School beforehand had been hard, because of who he made his company with but he tried to push that to the back of his mind as much as he could as he walked down the hallways of McKinley High with an air of arrogance he had come to perfect as time passed. Quarterback of the football team, most popular guy in school, dating the most popular cheerleader in the school – he was lucky, he had it all and he was happier than he ever had been. Well, maybe that was a lie; he had been happy at thirteen, but now, at sixteen, he was content. Content with living his life the way he had been since freshman year, and safe in the knowledge that, going into his junior year, he would remain top of his game. He'd get a scholarship into college in no time at all, he'd be out of Lima, and he'd put it all behind him. It would be okay, he would be okay.

Rachel. He still remembered her, of course, he still had dreams about her, he still watched her as she walked with her head down and he watched her sing in Glee club. He watched her from a distance, missing what they had once shared, hating high school for changing that. But, he hadn't wanted to be a loser anymore, and no matter how much he tried to convince Rachel to at least try to interact with the people around them, she was too shy, too hut by the previous bullying to even make an attempt. She couldn't put the past behind her, and Finn had to do just that. One week; that was how long they lasted at McKinley High. He realized it wouldn't work out, not when he wanted something different from her, he wanted to survive the next four years of his life, and she just wanted to get by.

It felt wrong, seeing the tears fall down her face before she ran off. She didn't shout, she didn't scream, she didn't slap him. He had made her cry, and that broke his heart but, it had to be done. He was different when he walked through those doors, he'd only end up hurting her. It was easier for him to generally ignore her existence, standing on the sidelines when she was bullied, trying to get people to back off because she was the 'cancer patient' that no one really understood. He did his best to get the bullying to stop, but to no avail and in the end, he gave up because, as Quinn told him, she brought it on herself, really.

It was hard, at first, to stay away from her. Sometimes, he found himself walking to her house without even thinking about it, just an automatic impulse to do so before he quickly turned back and reminded himself that they weren't friends anymore. But then, it got easier as he convinced himself that he had found true friends, friends who wouldn't… leave him at any given moment. He felt guilty for that thought, but it was never-ending with Rachel, the cancer cells seemed intent on coming back and he couldn't blame her for it, it was her body doing all the damage, it wasn't as though she asked for it. But still, it was difficult to cope with at his age; he was supposed to be worrying about high school, and not getting slushied, and handing his homework in on time, and scoring touchdowns in the games. Not worrying about if Rachel was going to be dead one day. And it was something that had plagued his mind for a long time, wondering again and again if one day, he was going to wake up and she was going to tell him that the cancer was back and this time, it wasn't going away. It terrified him, it terrified him so much that he had to push her away, to save his own feelings.

It was selfish, but perhaps the first selfish thing he had done in a long time. He had to grow up quickly when he made friends with Rachel, he had to keep her close and make sure she was safe. And he knew that he hurt her more than he ever could have imagined, but he had a life to think about, girlfriends who weren't sick and in and out of hospital, football, school work, his own dreams of getting out of Lima. He had so much, and she just didn't make the list. And he hated himself for admitting that.

~ .. ~

Another day at school, another day he managed to catch her eye only for her to look away and smile at her new best friend. Kurt Hummel – a boy he often found himself throwing into the dumpster because of just how different he was. He supposed that was why he and Rachel got on so well, but people in Lima didn't like different. Cancer girl and gay boy seemed appropriate, as she football team kept going on about; he didn't join in though, not when it came to her. Her illness wasn't exactly something he, or anyone else could ever make fun of, and Kurt… well, he supposed that was different, the boy had been bullied his entire life, what difference would he make to that? He sighed to himself as he walked through the long hallways of McKinley High, smiling at his cheerleader girlfriend, pecking her on the lips before he let out a small yawn.

He had been up all night, looking through old photographs, comparing them to new ones. His mom had pointed out his smile had changed, that the way his eyes looked when he did smile, just didn't look the same anymore when he was with his friends. He had been curious to see if she was right; the sparkle in his eyes was gone from when he was photographed with Rachel, and he couldn't help but notice the differences between his thirteen year old self and his sixteen year old self. In every single photograph, he was either touching Rachel, or staring at her and with Quinn, he was either standing beside her or trying to look away from her as she spoke to him. No chemistry, and his mom hated her, but they were popular and things worked out that way. It just had to happen, and she was nice.

It felt weird though. When she mentioned taking the next step in their relationship on her sixteenth birthday, he felt a little freaked – he had always imagined losing his virginity to Rachel and she would lose it to him. And there Quinn was, a beautiful blonde, with an amazing body who was offering to have sex with him and all he could do was nod his head and think about his ex-girlfriend, and how it should be her and him planning their first night in a hotel on the day they turn sixteen, or eighteen or however long Rachel wanted to leave it for. He'd have waited for her, he was sure of it.

He needed to forget about her. But her laugh, the way she sounded when she sang, the way she smiled, the way she ran her fingers through her hair and those short skirts she was now sporting since hanging out with Kurt and the rest of the Glee club losers. He shook it off and smiled at Quinn, pretending to have listened to the conversation. He needed to get Rachel back, he needed to fight for her in any way he possibly could and he would start by joining the New Directions. It was the only way.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: See last chapters.

Never Alone

Chapter Nine

No one ever expected the most popular guy in school to walk into the choir room that day, especially not after years of bullying them. But Rachel noticed the way Kurt immediately perked up the moment Finn walked into the room, with two of his friends behind him – she half expected a slushy to be pulled from behind their backs, so they could attack them in the one place they all felt safe, the one place they all felt a certain sense of belonging that they never could outside those doors. But instead, Mr Schuester tapped the taller boy on the back and introduced him to the entire group – as though he needed an introduction. Everyone knew who he was, everyone had suffered his pushes, or the slushies, or the dumpster throwing at least once either by him or in his presence.

She just took a deep breath and stared down at her lap the entire time – most people knew of their history, most people had gone to school with them but Kurt, he didn't have a clue. The way his eyes lit up when Finn was around; she wasn't jealous, per se, but she did feel the need to remind him that the jock was one hundred percent straight, and would never even divulge into the 'other side' as she liked to put it. She had known Finn most of her life, she knew he was straight, and Kurt was her friend, she didn't want him to get hurt. But, she kept her mouth shut, and she kept her eyes down, not wanting to voice out loud that she was not okay with this, she didn't want him in the choir room, she didn't want him anywhere near her.

He had a good voice though, she remembered him singing her to sleep a few times, or when he'd join in with her. He was talented, he could be the one person to help them win, and they could always do with more members to actually be eligible for the competitions. The small brunette just looked up for a second, her heart skipping a beat when she caught his eyes, causing her to look quickly back down in her lap, almost scared of what would happen if he tried to speak to her. They had been in high school for almost two years, so why he felt the need to suddenly look at her, and acknowledge that she existed, she wasn't sure.

Finn, on the other hand, just smiled as he looked around, knowing most of the people in the club hated him and his friends for what they had done in the past. But, he had to make nice in order to get the girl back, to get Rachel back into his life, at least as a friend. He sighed, and moved to sit near the back, closer to the girl he had once dated, than he had been in a very long time. It caused his fingers to curl around the bottom of his jacket, as he tried to focus on what the teacher was saying, and what was written on the board as opposed to Rachel Berry. But, she was there, two rows in front of him, directly in front of him and he could only lean forward and just smell those sweet strawberries. Her shampoo hadn't changed, that was for sure – he had always joked how it was appropriate for her, as a Berry, to be so obsessed with smelling like one. He almost scoffed out loud at that one, his thirteen year old self was _smooth. _

"Shouldn't we listen to Finn sing, at least, Mr Schue?" He finally heard, his eyes looking over to where the voice belonged – Kurt Hummel. The way the boy was looking at him, almost terrified him as his eyes widened and he was beckoned to the front, murmuring for both Puck and Sam to join him before he turned to the front of the small club that had named themselves the New Directions, before he took a deep breath and started to sing. "_The broken clock gives a comfort, it helps me sleep tonight.. maybe it can stop tomorrow from stealing all my time. And I am here still waiting, though I still have my doubts. I am damaged at best, like you've already figured out. I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing with a broken heart, that's still beating. In the pain there is healing, in your name I find meaning…_" His eyes found Rachel's, glad he had managed to get her attention as he continued to sing, not taking his eyes off hers.

"_The broken locks were a warning, you got inside my head. I tried my best to be guarded, I'm an open book instead. I still see your reflection inside of my eyes, that are looking for purpose… they're still looking for life. I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing with a broken heart, that's still beating. In the pain, is there healing? In your name, I find meaning. So, I'm holding on…_" He moved closer to her as he continued to repeat those last three words, "_I'm hanging on another day just to see what you will throw my way. Oh, I'm hanging on, to what you say, you said that I will be okay. The broken lights on the freeway, left me here alone… I may have lost my way now, I haven't forgotten my way home…"_

He took a deep breath when the song ended, looking at her as she just stared at him – the tears in her brown eyes broke his heart but he had a momentary hope when she stood up. His arms moving beside his sides, as though he was expecting her to run up to him, and run into his arms – the slap across his face was a burning memory of just how much he hurt her though, as he watched her storm out of the door without another word. Maybe it was going to be a lot harder than he thought it would be – although, he was stupid to think professing his love for her via song, and singing to her in a room full of her friends, would work. He let out a small sigh, frowning when Kurt moved to run after Rachel, along with Tina and Mercedes. They were her friends now, maybe he had to accept that as he moved to sit in the seat she had vacated, his head in his hands. "Fuck." He muttered, pushing Noah off when his own best friend tapped his back to offer a form of comfort.

~ .. ~

After she had run out, she wasn't entirely sure what to do, her hand stinging from the slap she had delivered on his face in the hopes it would hurt as much as she could manage. The small girl just tried to calm herself down, pressing her forehead against her cool locker before she opened it up and threw her stuff in there, murmuring to herself about how she couldn't cry over Finn Hudson, how she couldn't let him win. Finally, the sound of boots tapping down the hallway made her turn around to see her three best friends coming towards her, all confused by what had just happened. She couldn't explain to them, how could she possibly even begin?

"Hey." She whispered, rubbing her eyes before she bit down on her lip, and looked at Kurt, shaking her head. "I… I'm sorry, I should have told you all sooner. We have this stupid past, and it's never going to happen again because high school took care of that… I'm really sorry for not saying anything about him earlier…" She let out a small sigh before she sank down against the lockers, frowning, "How dare he walk in there and make me feel like shit when he's the one who broke up with me? I'm not stupid, okay? I know that when you're dating someone at thirteen, they're not always going to be the person you end up marrying. But… it was different, he was my only friend for a very long time, we did everything together and he… he got popular, I didn't, he chose popularity over me. It was simple… it hurt, but it was simple." She didn't want to say anything else on the matter, glad for Tina's arms around her before Mercedes and Kurt joined in, all offering words of comfort. She had friends, real friends, who wouldn't dump her the moment the slightest bit of popularity crept up on them. She had to rely on that, and not think about the fact Finn Hudson was boycotting the one place she had away from him.


End file.
